I heard about this'un on some random right wing radio show this morn. The uninformed host suggested you could fix'er up and sell it for $30,000. Dude has never been to Sagnasty. These homes hold negative value.

I suppose they are like vultures if vultures preyed on years deceased carcasses that held absolutely no value. I dunno. Scavengers is more like it... or maybe collectors of useless things with no resale value. I'm sure there are people out there who collect Parade Magazine, hamburger wrappers, cigarette butts, and other assorted ephemera. Why not add Saginaw homes to the list.

Having said that I always liked the fact that there wasn't really much of a Saginaw-Flint rivalry outside of the Generals/Gears. Sag is like Flint's ugly little sister. I love it.

If anybody is ever up for a tour of mid-sized rust belt towns lemme know. Muskegon, Toledo, Port Huron, Battle Creek, Lima, Danville, and Fort Wayne sound like a good time to me.

"First off, I saw the article about the lady who bought the house in Saginaw. People like her are not helping cities like Saginaw or Flint at all. Instead of letting those houses go to authorities who can deal with them appropriately, who will either rehab it or demolish it - they fall into people who have no intention whatsoever to take care of these houses - thus, in turn, perpetuating the problems these cities are having with abandoned houses and lowered house values. It inflames me how narrow-sighted they are. Doesn't she think if it was SUCH a great deal, SOMEONE would have bought it at $10 bucks? Chances are, this house needs to be demo'd - and now that it's in her hands, instead of the appropriate organizations - it's going to sit there, as a danger and an eyesore to it's community. it absolutely inflames me. Way to go Chicago-girl.

Hey Brad and Becky, authorities like the City o' Flint and the Land Bank are sitting on hundreds of dilapadated pits. Essentially, Joanne just bought someone a tallboy of Steel Reserve, which is more than I can say for Ex-Con Don and Danny Boy Kildee. In the avalanche of decay that has been occuring for the last 25-30 years, a misinformed speculator like Joanne is a drop in the bucket. Let her buy it, pay the back taxes (so some corrupt city official can line their pockets), sit back and watch it turn into cinders on Devil's Night.

Thanks for commenting. You might enjoy my book about Flint called "Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City," a Michigan Notable Book for 2014 and a finalist for the 33rd Annual Northern California Book Award for Creative NonFiction. Filmmaker Michael Moore described Teardown as "a brilliant chronicle of the Mad Maxization of a once-great American city." More information about Teardown is available at www.teardownbook.com.

"Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City" by Gordon Young

An intimate, indepth exploration of the past, present, and future of Flint, Michigan. Essential reading for anyone trying to understand why bad things — like the Flint Water Crisis — keep happening to Flint.

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"I grew up on the Eastside and recall the unexplained pride I felt when the 3:30 Buick factory whistle blew and the roughly dressed workers poured out of the General Motors labyrinth swinging their lunch pails. Some were headed for home and some for the corner bar, but all with the determined step of an army after a battle won. I somehow felt as if I were a part of this giant assembly line and the city it fed."